Another cold snap on the way for Alberta

Enjoy the next few days – it's downhill from here, for a time.

The long-range forecast shows a fair five days in a deeply dug trough ahead of the holidays:

That thicker black line is the jet stream. Cold air is going to extend as far south as Mexico for this one – if you have friends in the northern reaches, toss them a text and laugh. Not that we're going to be faring better, but spots like Juarez will see -1 C tonight.

Nominal temperatures will persist locally for a few days, capped off with a slight potential for positives again Friday as the west wind takes a final curl at us; thereafter, a cold week follows.

If you're a last-minute shopper for the holiday season, might I recommend the next couple of days for getting those errands done? That extra layer (both of clothes and snow on the ground) is going to make for a miserable shopping experience starting Saturday, straight through to next week.

I remain steadfast, however, that we expect improvements by the time Santa starts his trip around the world. The way-too-early look at the Christmas Day forecast puts Calgary at or around -12 C. With high temps around -27 C in the cards for next week, calling -12 C an improvement is not a stretch.

YOUR FIVE-DAY CALGARY FORECAST

Wednesday

• Morning snow, then mainly sunny
• Daytime high: -4 C
• Evening: mainly clear, low -9 C

Thursday

• Mainly sunny
• Daytime high: -3 C
• Evening: some cloud, low -8 C

Friday

• Some cloud
• Daytime high: 0 C
• Evening: some cloud, low -12 C

Saturday

• Snow, five to eight centimetres
• Daytime high: -13 C
• Evening: flurries, low -21 C

Sunday

• Flurries
• Daytime high: -18 C
• Evening: some cloud, low -26 C

Darin sent this really nifty pic in – I don’t know when it's from (guessing yesterday evening) and I don’t know where it is, but there's lots to take in!

Viewer Darin captured this shot of a sunset over a scrapyard.

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